


Sunbeams

by EvieNyx



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula (Avatar) Redemption, CAUSE TEN WAS TOO YOUNG, Gen, I made up a spirit because Sokka needed to be a champion of one too, The Gaang is gonna be mega confused, We love her, Yue and Zuko bonding, Yue is a Badass, Yue: excuse me sir that it my emotional support firebender, Zuko Angst, Zuko is also like eleven in this, Zuko's dead and now he's a spirit, does that count?, i cant not guys thats my girllll, less angsty than fractures but still, like its gonna kinda be explained but, not really - Freeform, probably, spirit rules are completely messed up, sure, use your imaginationnn, you can't escape it with me forever lets be real
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22061077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvieNyx/pseuds/EvieNyx
Summary: Ursa doesn't find out about Ozai's plan. Ozai goes through with it. Zuko is dead, Azulon is dead soon after, Ozai is Fire Lord with Ursa at his side.Agni is not so happy to find his champion killed at age eleven.So instead, he sends the boy off on a spirit quest to prove himself worthy of life once more.But Raava's champion is not in contact, Oma's is too much, Shu's is in a bad position, Athe's is too, as is La's...So, Agni sends the eleven-year-old spirit of Prince Zuko to the champion of Tui, Princess Yue, the moment that Avatar Aang reawakens. The problem? Zuko's a SPIRIT. And a child. And the only one who can see him is Yue.Basically a "Ozai actually does kill Zuko but Agni is having none of it so when Aang returns he uses the boost in spirit magic to send Zuko's spirit to Yue. Yue takes this eleven-year-old-boy-that-only-she-can-see and decides 'yes this is my new emotional support firebender' and the two get closer and closer until the Gaang finally arrives in the Northern Water Tribe and shit hits the fan" AU. So, all-in-all, a Yue-Zuko-bonding adventure featuring confused bb! Zuko and will-kill-anyone-and-everyone-who-hurts-her-little-fire-ghost-boy! Yue
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Ozai & Zuko (Avatar), Ozai/Ursa (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar), The Gaang & Yue (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Ursa & Zuko (Avatar), Yue & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 439
Kudos: 2641
Collections: AtLA <25k fics to read, Quality Fics, The Best of Zuko, avatar tingz





	1. How to Anger the Sun, by Ozai

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://good-eviening.tumblr.com)
> 
> Okay, this came to me, and I couldn't NOT write it, because the world NEEDS more Zuko and Yue bonding, especially with a bb Zuko. 
> 
> No, he does not remember his death (yet, come on, you think /I/ could NOT do that angst? have you READ Fractures? (if you haven't please do)).
> 
> Yue's gonna join the Gaang though, she not becoming the moon here, boys, and she's taking her little somehow-angsty-already fire ghost of an eleven-year-old spirit boy along for the ride.
> 
> This'll be fun (and generally less angsty than Fractures but I make no promises).

“ _Dad’s going to kill you!_ _No, really, he is_.”

Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation goes to sleep that night muttering under his breath, “ _Azula always lies, Azula always lies_.”

Azula didn’t lie. Mother didn’t overhear.

Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation goes to sleep that night. He doesn’t wake up the next morning.

Princess Ursa mourns the loss of her eleven-year-old son to brutal assassins. Prince Ozai ‘mourns’ the loss of his eleven-year-old son to brutal ‘assassins’. The next day, Fire Lord Azulon is dead in the morning. Fire Lord Ozai is crowned by nightfall, Crown Princess Azula as his heir, Fire Lady Ursa at his side, Prince Zuko burning at the pyre by his grandfather’s side.

Agni looks down on this turn of events.

Agni finds himself unhappy by these developments.

\- - -

“I hate humans.” 

Down on Earth, people sweat under the burning sun. A heatwave that day, to be sure.

Agni was angry. 

“My champion, _my_ champion, killed by his own father at age _eleven?_ ”

Agni fumed and the temperature increased a bit more.

“No… It can’t end like this. I _can’t_ let this happen like this.”

Agni paced a bit. A pond evaporated.

“That’s it! A _spirit quest!_ ” He paused. “But who to send him down to…”

Raava’s champion was out of commission and also out of the question. No one had spoken to her since _Kyoshi_ was her champion. And before that? At least twelve more Avatars. 

(What could he say? Kyoshi was a badass. Agni couldn’t _not_ have talked to her).

So… no Avatar Aang.

Oma’s champion was _also_ out of the question. First off, the girl was seven (and already crawling into caves with badgermoles), and, secondly, the girl was a bit _much_. 

Shu’s champion was a bad idea, too. The girl was a nonbender, only a year younger than Agni’s own champion, but she was already a warrior, and he had a feeling she might not be in the best position to help Agni’s champion fulfill the spirit quest.

La’s champion wouldn’t be much help, either. Besides the fact that the girl was an untrained waterbender who was _completely against_ the Fire Nation after they killed her mother, she was also in the debilitated South Pole. 

Athe’s champion was in a similar situation as La’s (which made since, considering they _were_ siblings on Earth). Athe, the spirit of strategy and wisdom, just happened to have his champion be the brother of La’s (except Athe’s champion _wasn’t_ a waterbender). So that was a no.

Speaking of La, though…

Now _there_ was a champion that Agni could work with!

Tui’s champion would be perfect. An amazing role model. _Plus, Agni’s champion could help steer her on a different fate_ …

Agni just had to get Tui’s permission. And then wait until Raava’s champion was reawakened ( _that_ was when there would be enough spirit energy released at once for Agni to reach in and send his champion’s soul down to go on his quest).

Agni located Tui’s essence in the Beyond and transported himself to her location, a small cove made of ice.

“Agni,” she said when he appeared, her voice soft and airy. She had glowing white hair and pitch black eyes with a ring of blue around the edge of them. “What brings you here?”

“My champion is dead.”

She didn’t falter. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t sound very sorry.

“He was killed. By his own father. He was eleven.”

The black pits of her eyes softened. “I’m sorry.” This time, she _did_ sound a bit sorry. “What brings you here? I’m guessing you’re not just looking for _comfort_.”

“I want to send him on a spirit quest.”

She nodded. “You want to send him to my champion.”

“I do.”

She smoothed out the silver moonbeams that she had draped over her humanlike form. “Very well. I give you my permission. My champion could use some fun in her life, anyhow.”

“It’ll have to wait until Raava’s champion is freed.”

Tui nodded. “Of course. Spirit energy.”

“Indeed,” Agni nodded.

Tui sighed and blinked. Her eyes were terrifying sometimes, but not now. The empty black pits were… warm, somehow…

“Maybe your champion can save mine,” Tui said after a moment. “I don’t want her to become like me. She’s too amazing of a human. One of the good ones. She doesn’t deserve this kind of eternity.”

Agni nodded. “Of course.”

“Let me know when you send your champion down, please,” Tui said. “Other than that, you have my permission.”

“Thank you.”

Agni paused.

“Tui, why are you here? Why aren’t you on Earth with La.”

She smiled at him. Her lips were as black as her eyes were. “I sensed you needed me.” With that, she stepped back into a pool of water behind her and disappeared into it. Her light faded from the cove and Agni was alone. Now the ice glowed orange from his flames rather than blue-white from Tui’s moonbeams. He waited for a moment before flashing home.

\- - -

Princess Yue was fifteen when the Avatar returned.

She didn’t know it happened, of course. She was on the other side of the world when it did. But that didn’t matter, because the spirits saw _all_.

Agni wasn’t paying attention the moment it happened (because of _course_ he wasn’t). Thankfully, Tui was.

"Agni,” she said urgently, appearing into his domain in the Beyond in a ray of moonlight.

“What?”

“Raava’s champion has awakened. You must send yours _now_.”

Agni had flashed off the moment the words left her lips. He reached out, grabbed his champion, and reached into the physical world. He felt the spirit energy vibrating through the world as the Avatar woke. He took the boy’s spirit, lying in limbo, and sent it down with the quick chant, “ _Redire ignis pugnator_.”

He returned to his domain a moment later. Tui was still there.

“Thank you,” he said.

“No,” she said, her voice as breathy and mystical as ever. “Thank _you_.”

She disappeared a moment later.

\- - -

Princess Yue, heir to the Northern Water Tribe, was barely ever able to get away from her handmaidens. The only time she could was when she was in her room and when she was in the Spirit Oasis. 

So, she was in the Spirit Oasis.

She stripped off her parka and sat under the arch, breathing in the warm air as she watched the koi fish go round and round in the water in a perfect balance. Dark and light, together as they should be.

Suddenly, the pool of water glowed. 

Yue watched it with fascination. The fish never stopped their turns. Never sped up, never slowed down. Just continued. So, it couldn’t be _bad_.

A moment later, the pool glowed brighter and Yue covered her eyes (not that she needed to… she was _of the moon_ ).

When the light faded and Yue uncovered her eyes, there was a boy laying on the other side of the pool.

Yue felt the sun’s rays flare for a moment.

She stood up and was about to approach the boy when he suddenly shot awake.

The boy blinked and rubbed his eyes. He looked incredibly young.

“Mom?” He muttered, glancing around the Oasis. His voice was heavy, his eyes clouded. He turned his head and met Yue’s eyes. “You’re not Mom.”

She shook her head. “I’m not.”

“Who are you? Where am I? Where’s Mom? Where’s Dad? Where’s Azula? Where’s Mom? Why are you here? Why am _I_ here? Where am I? _Where’s Mom?_ ”

“Okay, okay, just… calm down.”

Yue rounded the pool and dipped down to him where he was sitting on the grass. She placed a delicate hand on his shoulder. “Breathe.”

He did.

“Where am I? Where did you take me?”

“You’re in the Northern Water Tribe,” she said. “I’m Princess Yue, daughter of Chief Arnook.”

His eyes widened and he scrambled backward.

“The Northern Water Tribe? How am I _here_ ?” His eyes widened more before he glared at her. “ _You savages kidnapped me_.”

She took a step back in her shock. “What?”

“You uncivilized Northern _savages_ _kidnapped me?_ How dare you! My father… My father will get all of you when he comes to get me, you’ll see!”

She blinked and lowered the hand that she had left extended even after he had backed away. “Who are you?’

He glared. “Like you don’t know.”

She stared at him, folding her knees underneath herself. “Assume I don’t.”

“Well,” he puffed himself up a bit, “I’m Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, eldest son of Ursa and Prince Ozai, second son to Fire Lord Azulon.”

Yue blinked. She knew those names. Well, maybe not this kid’s name, but she knew the other two, except… not with those titles.

“You mean… Fire Lord Ozai and Fire Lady Ursa?”

Zuko shook his head. “No, Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa.”

Yue opened her mouth to respond, but the set look on the kid’s face made her think it wouldn’t do very much good.

“Well…” She pursed her lips, thinking over her options, before bowing her head to the kid. “Well met, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation.”

He stared at her for a moment before bowing his own head at her (albeit begrudgingly). “Well met, Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe.”

She smiled at him, but she knew that it didn’t reach her eyes. “Word of advice, don’t go around calling people savages around here. Might not go over well.”

He crossed his arms and shrugged. “Just calling it as I see it.”

She sighed and stood up before taking a few steps forward and reaching a hand out to him. “Come on. Let’s go see what my father has to say about this.”

He eyed her hand before meeting her gaze. “Your father… the Chief?”

She nodded.

Zuko scrunched his face up. “No thanks. I never passed war prisoner training class.”

She couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but she said, “I’ll protect you.”

The kid hesitated before taking Yue’s hand. She pulled him to his feet (he was abnormally light) and placed a hand on his shoulder. She dropped it as she pulled on her parka before guiding him out of the Spirit Oasis, the koi fish still swimming in the pond as if nothing had happened.

They walked for a bit before Yue asked, “Do you know how you got here?”

“I told you, no,” Zuko said, grumbling. “Your people _clearly_ kidnapped me. Like my grandfather will give in _that_ easily.”

Yue pursed her lips. “Well-”

“Princess Yue?” The voice of one of her handmaidens, Loire, interrupted Yue’s words. “Who are you talking to?”

Yue blinked as Loire looked right at her, completely ignoring Zuko’s presence as if he wasn’t even there.

“What are you talking about, Loire?” Yue asked hesitantly. “Can you not see the boy right beside me?”

Loire smiled, but it was filled with confusion and concern as she said, “Your grace, we’re the only two here.”

Zuko sucked in a breath beside her and Yue glanced over to see that he was staring intently at his hand, his eyes wide.

His hand was ever-so-slightly transparent.

Loire walked forward to Yue and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come, Princess. Let’s get you inside. You must be tired.”

Yue shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Could you excuse me for a moment? My parka feels a bit off.”

Loire nodded and stepped away and back around the corner where Yue could hear her begin to chatter animatedly with the other handmaidens.

Yue turned her attention, then, not to her parka, but to the young boy beside her who looked about ready to faint, his fingers grazing carefully over his shoulder where Loire just thrust her hand through his body as if he was nothing but air.


	2. Zuko Learns That Spirits Other Than Agni Exist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yue was surprised by the lack of knowledge of anything other than Fire Nation within this Fire Prince. 
> 
> This Incredibly-Annoying-And-Yet-Simultaneously-Innocent-And-Adorable Fire Prince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](good-eviening.tumblr.com)
> 
> Okay, so this got to like over 300 kudos after the first chapter, and I know some of that is definitely from Fractures, but I want to thank everyone who gave this a chance. I'm really excited to keep going with it.
> 
> I promise we'll get to the Gaang a lot faster here than we will in Fractures.
> 
> We'll have a few chapters of bonding and getting used to each other and figuring stuff out and time-skipping and then we'll be getting right into the Gaang's arrival and then the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe.
> 
> Make sure to let me know if you're enjoying this!
> 
> (I'm gonna keep writing it anyway but I like encouragement).
> 
> Enjoy!

Zuko stared at his shoulder in horror even after the Water Tribe  _ savage _ who had stuck her hand straight  _ through him _ was long gone. He clutched at his shoulder desperately, because if he let go  _ what if it just disappeared _ .

He wanted Mom.

He turned to the savage girl that called herself a princess, the one with the hair that was  _ white and wrong _ . She spoke to him, but Zuko could hear nothing other than his heart pounding in his ears.

The savage princess reached out toward him and he backed up from her before she could touch him. 

“Leave me alone!” He exclaimed, because, sure, she had helped him up earlier, but that was when they were in that weird place where everything was green and warm, and now they were out of there, now everything was blue and silver and white and  _ cold _ . 

He had never seen so much ice.

The princess of the water savages spoke to him again, but he still found that he couldn’t hear her. It hurt to breathe. Finally, the Girl With the Hair That Was Wrong pursed her lips in the same way that Mom always did when she was mad at Azula before marching forward and sticking her hand out at him before he could react. He flinched when her hand touched him before blinking and realizing what was happening.

She was  _ touching _ him. 

Her hand wasn’t going through him, just sitting there, her chilled fingertips against his skin.

She had never pulled her gloves back on after they had left the Warm Place with the Trees.

The royal Water Savage tightened her fingers around his shirt (wait, was he wearing his  _ pajamas? _ ) and dragged him back with much to much ease. Zuko struggled as best he could, but he couldn’t get a good enough footing to firebend like his teachers had always taught him to, so he had to resort to trying to kick at her.

Her grip was  _ strong _ .

Zuko steeled his resolve and aimed another kick.

\- - -

Yue pulled the idiotic kid along behind her as she made her way back to the Spirit Oasis, where, hopefully, he would at least  _ look _ solid again. Maybe that would make him calm down.

And also make him stop  _ kicking her _ .

But Yue was a girl, a princess, sure, but this boy was a  _ prince _ , and he was a  _ boy _ .

(An immature boy, sure, who couldn’t be much older than twelve, but the fact remained that he was a  _ male _ of royal standing. Which meant the fact that she was dragging him around could prove very bad if she later defended him against her father).

This day was shaping up to be very out-of-the-ordinary, and Yue found that she would rather it had been completely and utterly normal.

The boy was kicking at her, struggling, dragging his toes in the ice. She glanced at him. He must be cold. He was wearing what looked like  _ pajamas _ , and  _ Fire Nation _ pajamas at that. Yue knew for a fact that the Fire Nation was much warmer than the North Pole was.

To his credit, he was putting up much better of a fight than she would have expected from someone his size. Still, not a  _ good  _ fight, mind you, but better than expected.

Yue’s hands would be cold, normally (she had left her gloves back in the Spirit Oasis in the mess of things, she realized), but the firebender she had in her grasp put off enough warmth that her fingers weren’t frozen solid. In different circumstances, he would make a nice heat pack. If this war ever ended and they managed to actually get on good terms with the Fire Nation again, Yue would have to convince her father to bring some firebenders to the North Pole to make things warmer. She couldn’t just go to the Spirit Oasis every time she wanted to simply take off her parka.

Speaking of the Spirit Oasis, she turned the corner and saw the door sitting there, closed. Yue shifted her grip on the struggling little Fire Prince, ensuring she still had a good grasp on him in one hand before she moved her now-free one over to open the door into the Oasis.

She pushed the door open before readjusting her grip on the boy again before pulling him back through the door. Once they had gotten through, she kicked it closed with her foot before pulling him to the side of the lake and finally releasing him.

The boy squirmed for a moment before flipping over and standing up. He glared at her as soon as he registered where she was.

“What did you  _ do _ to me?” He demanded.

Yue raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t do anything.” She studied his body quickly. “I’d say it was the spirits.”

“That’s stupid,” the boy said, crossing his arms and sticking out his bottom lip. It made him look even more like a child than he already did. 

“Is it?”

“Yeah.”

“How about this, then. We’re in the Spirit Oasis. You appeared here without either of us knowing how. You’re not translucent anymore.” She gestured to him vaguely and the Fire Prince seemingly ignored her other words and looked down immediately at his hand. He stared at each of his fingers, turning his hand over to observe the opaqueness of the thing.

“Whoa…” He breathed before blinking and looking back up at her. His eyes narrowed again. “Why is it so warm here?” He asked her. Yue clicked her tongue and gestured around her.

“This is the Spirit Oasis, the most spiritual place in the North Pole.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured that,” the kid said, gritting his teeth. “You already said  _ Spirit Oasis _ . But why is it so  _ warm? _ It feels like the Fire Nation at night, and this is supposed to be the  _ North Pole _ .”

Yue raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you cold outside?”

He flushed, his cheeks turning a bright red from the not-cold. “Well… Well,  _ yeah _ , but like…” He scrunched his face up and didn’t say anything more. His eyes fell down to his hands again as he turned them over. Then he froze.

“What is it?” Yue asked, immediately knowing the look from when she had seen it on her father when he heard more bad news about the war that they refused to be involved in.

The kid was listening to her at least a  _ little _ bit, because he held his arm out toward her, his jaw dropped still, and didn’t move away as she got closer. Yue bent down a bit to get to his height and look down at the symbol on his wrist. 

It was a little fire, but not like the one in the Fire Nation insignia. No, this one was less concrete, more free, unconfined and looking almost hot even if it was nothing more than a tattoo on the boy’s skin.

“Was that not there before?”

The kid looked up at her in both shock and offense. “No!” He exclaimed, as if  _ she _ would know. “It was  _ not! _ ”

She hummed and nodded. She knew what to do to calm men (and boys) down when they got like this.

“What is it?” She asked. “Is it the new Fire Nation insignia?” She knew that the ones they had from Fire Nation armor was at least sixty years old. It may have been updated.

The kid shook his head thoughtfully, now quieter than he had been since appearing. He traced his thumb over the little fire on his skin and murmured, almost to himself, “This is Agni’s symbol.”

“Agni?” She asked, blinking at him. Yue remembered the name from her lesson. “That’s the Spirit of Fire, right?”

The boy nodded, glancing at her with a bit of scrutiny. “Yeah,” he said, a bit cockily, if she was being honest. “Agni’s the Spirit of Fire, and he’s also the Sun Spirit. Except… really, he’s more like the Sun  _ God _ . He  _ is _ the Sun.”

Yue nodded, her gaze flicking to the koi fish in the pond swimming in circles, around and around and around in perfect balance with one another. “Like Tui and La.”

The boy wrinkled his nose and looked up at her. “Who?”

She turned down to him abruptly. “What do you mean ‘who?’”

He crossed his arms again and scowled at her. “I mean ‘ _ who? _ ’ As in,  _ who _ are you talking about? ‘Too and Lam?’ Who’re they?”

She pressed her lips into a tight line to keep any verbal jabs in before correcting as gently as she could, “ _ Tui _ and  _ La _ . They’re the Moon and Ocean Spirits. They are each Spirits of what they stand for, but they are also each  _ what _ they are. Like how Agni  _ is _ the Sun, Tui  _ is _ the Moon and La  _ is _ the Ocean.”

The kid furrowed his eyebrows, looking conflicted. “But… But I never learned any of that! The only Spirit that sends their power here is Agni! Everyone knows that!”

Yue blinked. “What? No, no, everyone learns about  _ all _ the spirits. I know Agni, who comes as the Sun, but I also know Tui, the Moon, La, the Ocean, Oma and Shu, the Earth and Ground, even Athe, in the Wisdom in War,” Yue stated. 

The boy leaned back a bit as if he was learning all of this for the first time (which, honestly, it seemed like he  _ was _ .

“But still,” Yue spoke again as he remained silent for what felt like the first time, “That doesn’t explain why you have Agni’s mark on you.”

The kid lit up after a moment. “My second tutor said that anyone marked with Agni’s symbol is blessed by Agni himself! Maybe that’s what happened to me!” Then, he deflated. “Then again, my second tutor said that  _ he _ was blessed by Agni, and I don’t think  _ anyone _ would bless  _ him _ .”

“Why?” Yue couldn’t help her curiosity.

“That guy was a  _ total dick _ .”

The kid covered his mouth. Then he looked up at Yue and said, “When you deliver me back to civilization, don’t tell my mom I said that.”

Yue pursed her lips at the subtle jab at her nation he gave, but she forced on a tight smile and nodded.

He let out a small growl and glared at her again.

The fake smile fell away. “What?”

“Don’t give me a fake smile. Azula does that all the time during balls and stuff. It’s annoying. I can’t tell  _ her  _ to stop, but I  _ can _ tell you.”

“I thought I was pretty good at fake smiles,” Yue said, twisting the edge of her dress.

He nodded sagely. “You are. Azula’s just better.” He scowled suddenly. “She’s better than  _ everyone _ at  _ everything _ .” His eyes widened and he looked up at Yue again, as if telling her a secret or just realizing something. “For some things, she’s even better than  _ father _ …” He frowned again and crossed his arms over his body. “Don’t tell Dad I said that.”

The boy shifted a bit and his little fire mark on his wrist showed again. Yue’s own wrist itched a bit and she suddenly had a stupid and possibly genius idea.

She leaned forward a bit and grabbed the hem of the sleeve on her left arm, pulling it back. He looked at her involuntarily and she nodded down to her wrist. 

“Look,” Yue said, turning her own gaze down to the mark that had been there since the moment she had been placed into the Spirit Water as a baby, according to her father.

The kid stared down at the mark. “What is it?” He asked, looking like he wanted to touch it before thinking better of it.

“It’s my own mark, the Mark of Tui,” Yue replied as simply as she could, tracing the shape of the crescent moon on her wrist. “It means I’ve been blessed by the Moon.” She pointed back to the little fire on the kid’s wrist. “Maybe that one means you’ve been blessed by the Sun.”

The boy looked at it and lit up a bit. Gone were the scowls of just a few moments before, instead replaced with complete awe and a bit of hope. He looked up at her suddenly, his eyes sparkling. “You think so?” He looked back down at the mark before deflating a bit like he had when talking about his tutor just a minute ago. He then frowned, which quickly turned into what Yue was about ready to dub the Little Firebender Scowl. “You’re probably wrong.” He narrowed his eyes further and glanced at her. “Not like you can  _ prove _ it.”

Her thoughts flicked to the Spirit Pool behind them and she thought about the Glow.

Then, she said, “Whenever I put my mark under the water in that pool, the water glows silver. Maybe it’ll react for yours.”

He looked skeptical. “How do I know it’s not poison? You savages  _ did  _ already kidnap me.”

Oh, and the ‘savages’ returned.

How lovely.

But Yue was too far in with this mysterious little Might-Be-A-Spirit boy now. She grit her teeth and stood up, moving over to the Spirit Pool. She locked eyes with the kid before sticking her bare arm up to her Mark into the Pool.

A moment passed before the water glowed silver. It wasn’t bright, it wasn’t  _ bright _ unless it was a full moon, and that was still a week off, but it  _ glowed _ , nonetheless.

The boy watched the Spirit Pool and his mouth fell open in a gape that stayed even after Yue pulled her arm from the Water and the glow faded.

Finally, the kid stood up and slowly, hesitantly, made his way over to the Spirit Pool. He took in a deep breath before getting down on his knees, closing his eyes, and shoving his arm into the Pool.

There was a beat when nothing happened. The boy still had his eyes closed. Then, slowly, the Water began to glow, except it wasn’t glowing  _ silver _ , for that must be  _ Tui’s _ color. No, it was glowing a golden color, one with just a hint of orange, and Yue had never seen such a color. It must be that of Agni. It was such a contrast to everything she had ever known in the North Pole.

Yue found that she liked it quite a bit.

The boy slowly opened his eyes and blinked to gain his bearings before looking down at the glowing Water. He stared at it for a moment, his eyes wide, before he yelped and jumped back.

The glow stopped as soon as his arm left the Water.

He was taking in a few gasping breaths from where he was now simply sprawled out on the grass. Yue took a few steps toward him and got down to her knees.

Finally, the boy’s eyes moved to her and he said quietly, almost in shock, “You didn’t  _ lie _ .”

Yue furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, a small, confused quirk on her lips. “No, I didn’t. Why would I lie about that?”

He shrugged, looking back toward the sky above. “ _ Azula always lies _ ,” he muttered, his tone gaining a bitter edge at the end.

Yue elected not to say anything in response, just humming lightly.

Finally, the boy let out a groan of indignation at himself before sitting up. He slumped once he was sitting fully, but at least he wasn’t sprawled in the grass anymore.

Yue decided to fill the silence by asking, “What was your name, again? I didn’t catch it at first.” That was a lie, but it was rude to say she couldn’t remember it in the craze of everything.

“I’m Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation,” the boy said after a moment, his eyes still glued to the Spirit Pool. “Son of Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa, grandson of Fire Lord Azulon.”

Yue wanted to say something at those titles again, but chose not to.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she said as she had all those minutes ago, “Well met, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation.”

He glanced up at her and said, “What was your name?”

She snorted (no, she didn’t, that’s not  _ ladylike _ , she just made a sound that was  _ very-close-to-a-snort-but-not-quite-a-snort _ ). “Do you not remember?”

He shook his head firmly, crossing his arms, his eyes fully off of the Spirit Pool, now. “No. I was barely listening when you said it in the first place.”

If they were going to continue to have any sort of relationship, they would  _ definitely _ have to work on his manners.

She held in a sigh and said as calmly as she could (basically putting on her Talking-To-Males-Who-Think-They’re-Above-Me-In-Every-Way Voice), “My name is Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe.”

Zuko nodded after a moment. “Well met, Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe,” he said, and it sounded  _ just as forced _ as the first time he had said it had sounded.

Yue gave him a tight smile before reaching out her hand. 

They weren’t going to bow to one another, she knew that, but they could at least shake hands. As tentative equals. Two royals, both blessed by a High Spirit.

He stared at her hand for a long moment, before reaching out and shaking it. 

His hands were dotted with callouses.

Zuko shook for a little too long (it was clear he didn’t shake hands very often), and Yue’s smile somehow became a bit more genuine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey...
> 
> You should comment...
> 
> Yes, I WILL say this every time. In every one of my stories.
> 
> Unless I don't.
> 
> Still, though. 
> 
> Comment...
> 
> *fades into the darkness*


	3. Zuko Sees a Lot of Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko's seen ice before, but this is a bit extensive.
> 
> He refuses to admit that the ice also looks kinda-sorta pretty, because that would be a win on the Water Tribe's part and Dad would not be happy about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](https://good-eviening.tumblr.com)
> 
> Well, here's another chapter. I'm working on the next one for Fractures, but this one was almost done, so I pushed I through and finished it like an hour before two months after the last one was published.
> 
> I don't know what that says about me.
> 
> I don't know if that says anything about me.
> 
> Eh, I don't care. Enjoy the chapter!

“I don’t want to leave,” Zuko said, eyeing the closed door to the Spirit Oasis with much skepticism boiling within his amber gaze.

“Why not?”

Zuko had been sitting in what the Water Tribe ‘royalty’ called ‘The Spirit Oasis’ for maybe an hour, and he was still no more comfortable with the idea of going outside. Outside was _scary_ . Outside was where he had turned into a _ghost_.

“You didn’t turn into a _ghost_ ,” the girl ( _Yue_ , a voice in the back of his mind whispered) said, rolling her eyes. “At best, you’ve got some sort of spirit thing happening.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “ _Spirit thing?_ What, like _magic?_ ”

She frowned. “You already _know_ that spirits exist. Tui and La, you _said_ that you knew Agni was real.”

“That’s different.”

“It’s not.”

“What do _you_ know?” He asked, glaring at her.

She didn’t respond to him, her lips drawing into a tight line. Zuko felt a bit smug as he claimed an obvious victory. “See? I’ll stay right here, thanks.”

The girl was quiet for a moment before asking, “Are you hungry?”

Zuko furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“Are you hungry?” She repeated in the same exact tone.

“Uh… no?” He crossed his arms, scrunching his face up. “Why?”

“Just curious. You’ll have to go outside _eventually_ to eat, you know. We can’t have food in the Spirit Oasis.”

Zuko chewed the inside of his cheek before asking, “Why not? It’s just _food_.”

The girl looked at him the same way Azula did when he did something stupid and didn’t respond to his question.

Zuko knew how girls worked, though. He’d better drop it. This girl may be a _Water Tribe savage_ , but she was still a _girl_ , and girls were scary.

Zuko would prefer to keep his head for a bit longer until he fully figured out what was going on, thank you very much.

So, instead of retorting again and bragging about how right he was, he remained silent.

“How about this? I’ll make you a deal,” the girl ( _Yue_ , the voice whispered, _Yue_ ) offered.

“What kinda deal?” Zuko asked, eyeing her carefully. Still, he couldn’t _not_ be interested. He just hoped it didn’t show on his face (it most definitely did).

“You come out of the Spirit Oasis, and I’ll find you some new clothes.”

Zuko, abruptly, remembered that he was in his pajamas. Maybe _that_ was why it was so much colder than if he was wearing something normal. Fire Nation pajamas were designed to be light and soft, as it was hot in the Fire Nation and you were already underneath covers as it was (Mother had told him that. She was really smart).

He crossed his arms, anyway. “I’m not _cold_ . I’m a _firebender_.”

The girl raised an eyebrow. “You’re shivering. _While being in the Spirit Oasis_.”

His body betrayed him by sending a tremor through his bones. Zuko grit his teeth and glared at her before finally mumbling out, “ _Fine_.” His hands rested on his bare arms. He could feel goosebumps rising on his skin beneath his fingertips.

The girl’s smile might _look_ kind, but it was the same kind of one that Azula wore sometimes. One that was satisfied, that told him that she _knew_ that she had won.

She offered her hand to him and Zuko ignored it. Her hands may _look_ clean, but one of his tutors always said that Water Tribe people evolved to look nice on the outside, and then once you took their hands and trusted them, _that_ was when they pounced and killed you. He had been weak and scared earlier (not that he would ever _admit it_ ) when he had taken her hand, but now his thoughts were straight, and he was thinking _right_.

Zuko scowled at the outstretched hand and pushed himself up on his own. The girl retracted her hand as if nothing had happened, though something in her eyes shifted. Zuko couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe one day he’d be able to. _Azula_ was, and she was _way_ younger than he was.

“Lead the way,” Zuko said, and while he was sure he _sounded_ nice, he was actually being a Master Strategist (just like Dad would want). He was keeping the enemy in front of him at all times. He would be able to watch her every move and react appropriately if she suddenly decided to strike (Dad would be so proud. Mom too).

The girl watched him for another moment before straightening her parka, pulling on her gloves, and moving toward the entrance. She pushed the door open and Zuko didn’t take his eyes off of her as she closed it behind them. There was a final burst of warm air from the Spirit Oasis that hit his neck and then it was gone and replaced by nothing but biting cold.

Zuko gestured for the girl to go in front of him, and her face scrunched up a bit before she swept forward and began to make her way down the path toward the rest of her society.

The walls were a weird color when Zuko thought about it. All the ice he had ever seen (in drinks and as sculptures at parties, mainly, because ice was a bit of a rarity in the Fire Nation) had been a near-transparent, clear color, but the ice walls and ground here, in the North Pole, was a white hue with light blue accents that looked a bit odd to him, especially when he thought about the fact that this was _water_.

(Then again, that pool in the Spirit Oasis had _just been water_ to him, too, until he had touched it and it had _glowed_ , so, honestly, he should probably just stop underestimating water).

The girl turned a few corners and they found themselves in front of a group of a few girls. One of them, the one that had _stuck her hand through him_ earlier was there, and she turned when she heard them approach.

“Princess Yue!” The Girl-Who-Stuck-Her-Hand-Through-Zuko said. “I know you said you didn’t want to be disturbed, but I’m so glad you’re all right! We were just about to come and check on you!”

The Girl-With-White-Hair smiled lightly. “I’m quite all right, Loire, though I appreciate your concern. I was simply seeking guidance from the Moon.” She lied fast, and she lied well, Zuko grudgingly admitted. Still, she was nowhere _near_ as good as Azula, he was sure. Azula was _great_ at lying. His sister was _worlds_ better than this _savage_.

The-Girl-Who-Stuck-Her-Hand-Through-Zuko-Who-Was-Called-Loire nodded immediately. “Of course, Princess. I understand. We have your boat waiting for you, if you would like to go back to the palace.”

Zuko involuntarily shivered at a gust of cold air blowing through and the Girl-With-White-Hair glanced back at him for a moment before nodding smoothly, speaking in a calm, soft voice, “That would be wonderful, Loire, thank you.”

Zuko continued to trail behind the Girl-With-White-Hair, and the other girls followed her as well, keeping a careful few steps behind her. Zuko took note of this. At least they knew how to treat their own royalty right. It wouldn’t be a far jump to do the same to the Fire Nation royalty.

Finally, they emerged from a final corridor of ice to find themselves in the middle of the city. It reminded Zuko of the Fire Nation city blocks that he looked down at from the top windows in the palace, except the stone buildings were replaced by ice and the cobbled roads were instead rivers with boats floating along them rather than carts. People walked on pathways along the sides of the river. It was an odd sight to see. The water was a deeper blue than Zuko had ever seen, even at Ember Island.

There was a boat fancier than any of the other ones in the river sitting right in front of them. Zuko hopped around the group of girls to look at it. It was carved ornately and was a bit larger than the other ones that he could see floating along, with a man sitting at the paddle already.

“Princess Yue,” the man said, standing up and sweeping into a bow. He reached his hand forward and helped the Girl-With-White-Hair into the boat. The girl took a long moment to take a seat, and as she shuffled around, she locked eyes with Zuko and threw her head back a bit, gesturing to the empty space next to her. Zuko swallowed and nodded. He may not like the girl too much, but he wasn’t about to let the only person who could see him _leave_. He moved toward the boat and hopped into it at an odd angle, praying to Agni that it didn’t shift as he got in. It should have shaken the boat a bit. Instead, not a single ripple was made. 

Zuko really needed to figure this whole kinda-maybe-a-ghost thing out soon. 

Not a second later, the man pushed off from the edge of the river and began to row the boat forward.

“It’s cold,” Zuko muttered, sitting down next to the girl tensely to avoid falling off of the boat as it slowly swayed back and forth. He crossed his arms again, and huffed a bit. 

She regarded him with nothing more than a side glance, which he supposed made sense because if she talked then people would probably think she was crazy. Even Zuko knew the importance of appearances.

Their journey was made in relative silence. In the beginning of it, Zuko was looking around in awe that was as concealed as he could make it before he realized that he was giving her leverage. If this girl thought that he thought that this place was _pretty_ , she could probably find a way to use it against him. After all, Azula always found ways to use anything and everything against him. Girls were just like that. They knew how to work people. It was _scary_ . So, Zuko elected instead to turn his eyes down and stare resolutely at his lap despite the fact that he wanted to continue to look at the endless buildings made or nothing but _frozen water_.

The boat moved off of the main river to a side one. They stopped for a moment and a gate was pulled open by two guards that Zuko could see positioned on the walls. The gate closed behind them as they moved forward again, and then another gate opened in front of them. 

When they were through that one, Zuko realized that they were still on the canal, but now they were inside. The boat moved forward a bit more and slid up alongside a dock. 

“Thank you for the ride,” the girl said as the man who had been rowing helped her out.

“Of course, Princess.”

Zuko scrambled out of the boat and got to his feet as the man pushed off of the dock again and rowed back into a tunnel.

The girl stood there, and so Zuko did too, until there was a slight grinding sound from down the tunnel that the boat had just disappeared into. After a moment, she spoke. 

“Well, we’re alone now.”

Zuko nodded, not trusting himself to talk. If he did, he was worried his teeth might chatter and that would show _weakness_ (he’s _positive_ that’s what Dad would say, and Dad was _always_ right. That was why Mom always said to listen to whatever he said, Zuko was sure).

“Come along.” The girl set off toward a staircase swooping into the wall.

Zuko wanted nothing more than to stay right where he was _if only because it was not what she wanted him to do_ , but another tremor of cold shot up his body and he glanced down at himself and saw the translucency of his skin again and he grudgingly went to follow her, his heart pounding in his chest.

After climbing a winding staircase made of _ice_ (he almost slipped a few times, as Fire Nation slippers were most _definitely not_ made for the North Pole), they emerged in a corridor.

Zuko continued to follow the girl as she moved through what he assumed to be the Northern Water Tribe palace. It wasn’t as big nor as _beautiful_ as the Fire Nation palace (that was a given), but each little bit of ice was carved so meticulously and with such obvious care that it didn’t feel as cold inside as he thought it should.

Another two staircases later and more corridors than Zuko cared to count and they were in front of a door. The savage princess pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The room was more decorated than the halls they had walked through. Animal pelts covered the ice floor as a sort of carpet, allowing the girl to take off her shoes without freezing her feet off. There was a large window with a window seat below it, and two blue-dyed curtains pinned to the side to allow light in. The bed was not made of ice, at while it wasn’t as large as the beds in the Fire Nation palace, it was still rather big, the covers all colored a purple just a few shades off of the parka that the girl was wearing. There was a dark blue couch set to the side, and two chairs and a table, and rather than there being a room elsewhere for her wardrobe, there was simply a door on one of the walls that the girl opened as she took her parka off. Zuko looked inside and saw it was nothing more than a walk-in closet, like the ones that housed cleaning supplies for the servants back home. Here, though, it was for her clothes. The _Princess’s_ clothes. Huh.

“I think I have something in here that should fit you well enough until we can get something better,” the girl’s voice came from the closet. “Most of my clothes from when I was your size have been donated, but I should have _something_ lying around.”

Zuko took one slipper off carefully as she spoke and cautiously set his foot down onto the pelt that he stood on. It was warm, and soft. His toes curled up into the fur and he almost smiled. He probably _would_ have if Mom were there.

But Mom _wasn’t_. Instead, he was stuck with the Northern Water Tribe’s Princess, who spoke in riddles that weren’t really riddles at first glance, and who reminded him of Azula in a way that he wasn’t sure was good or bad.

“This should work,” the girl said, emerging from the closet with a dark blue parka clutched in her hands. It was much smaller than her own, lined with gray fur rather than the white that he had seen on a lot of the Water Tribe people so far.

She took a few steps toward him and offered the parka. Zuko’s lips tightened but he took it from her. 

“You can wear your pajamas underneath until some proper underclothes can be found,” she said, stepping back. Zuko didn’t respond to her (didn’t give her any _ammo_ ) and instead shifted the parka in his arms.

Finally, he attempted to pull it on. Key word being _attempted_ . He failed. It wasn’t his fault, though! Half the time at home he had servants helping him get dressed, or Mom, and all Fire Nation clothes were made _completely_ different from Water Tribe clothes.

After a moment, the girl stepped closer and gently took the parka from him. Zuko scrunched up his face but couldn’t bring himself to complain. She was completely silent, her face utterly blank as she adjusted the parka and glanced between the garment and Zuko. Finally, she shook it out a final time and knelt down in front of him.

“Turn around,” she said, her voice soft but firm enough to offer no room for argument. Zuko grudgingly complied. He turned and extended his arms when her soft fingertips pushed lightly against his skin. The parka was slid over his arms and draped over his shoulders. He felt a warmth settle over his body. 

“Look at me.”

He did.

She reached into the parka and adjusted multiple straps and buttons that he hadn’t even noticed were _there_ before. Her fingers were deft and steady as they moved through the things, down, down, down, until she finally straightened up. She stood up, rising from her knees and looking down at him. She reached out and adjusted the collar of the parka before stepping back and turning back toward the closet. She moved to the closet as if nothing had just happened.

A beat passed and Zuko clenched his hands, his nails digging into his palms, forming little half-crescents indents in his skin. There was a battle going on in his mind. Mom would tell him to thank the girl for helping him, while Dad would berate him for showing any gratitude to this Water Tribe _savage_.

In the end, he let the Mom whispering in his ear win over (Azula was right, he _was_ a Momma’s boy).

“Thank you,” he managed to say. He wondered whether or not the nails digging into his skin in the center of his palms had broken the skin yet. He wondered whether or not the warm feeling in his hand was sweat or blood or nothing at all. Was his hand even warm at all, or was he just imagining it? Was his face warm too? Was his face bleeding? Was that why it was warm? He couldn’t tell, and it was honestly freaking him out a bit.

The girl turned and looked at him. Their eyes met, and her face was still nothing more than a blank slate. Then, there was a flicker of something in her eyes and she gave him the smallest of nods.

“No problem,” Yue replied, and then she disappeared back into the closet, this time closing the door behind her.

\- _Prologue fin._ -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Absolutely no studies show that commenting will let you live longer but...
> 
> Just because that's the case, though, doesn't mean that in the future there won't be a study that DOES say that commenting lets you live longer.
> 
> So, you know, you should comment...
> 
> You know, just to be safe...


	4. Zuko Washes Clothes for the First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko sees the savages in charge, doesn't call people savages as much, and learns a very special way to do laundry that would never be a good way for anyone else to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](good-eviening.tumblr.com)
> 
> I couldn't find anything about what happened to Yue's mom. I think she's supposed to be dead, but... you know me... I'm just saying she was s i c k during the siege or something, idk, but her name is Uki which, in Inuit (ironically enough), means 'Survivor.'
> 
> Additionally, there's a bunch of wobbly stuff when it comes to, like, Chief/Cheiftess/Cheiftainess for the WIFE of a Chief, so I just went with Chieftess because it is the easiest to spell.

  
  


\- _Book 1: Moon_ -

  
  
  


Zuko was silent as he sat there with the savage princess. The girl was quiet too, spending her time reading something off of a scroll. 

A few hours passed, because the light outside the window shifted a bit before there was a knock on the door. 

Yue stood up, and made her way toward the door, but a voice came from the other side before she could open it.

“Princess? Your father requests your presence.”

Yue’s face was carefully blank, but Zuko knew that look. Mom wore it a lot when she was called for things she didn’t want to do but knew that she had to anyway.

“I’ll be there in just a few minutes,” Yue replied, her words clipped, though he supposed to someone who had never lived with a girl like Azula, they might sound genuinely sweet.

Footsteps moved away from the door and, after a moment, Yue sighed, still facing the door from where she now stood in the middle of the room.

“What am I supposed to do?” Zuko asked, and she started a bit before rounding to look at him, sitting on her couch in her old parka.

Yue blinked. “I forgot you were there. My apologies, Prince Zuko.”

Zuko’s face scrunched up. “How? I’m a ghost boy and you just… forgot I was here?”

“I’ve been working. I was distracted.”

Zuko bit back another retort. “What am I gonna do? While you’re, you know, with your dad?”

She was quiet for a moment, and Zuko was about to move forward and wave a hand in front of her eyes to snap her out of her stupor before she said, “I suppose you may join me. It’s not as if anyone can see you but me.”

Zuko crossed his arms. “What if I don’t _want_ to?”

She regarded him oddly, the same way that his tutors sometimes did when he asked a question that they thought was stupid. “You can stay here.”

On one hand, he could _say_ he was going to stay here and then he could escape, find a way back home. On the other hand, if he went with her, he could gather intel. He could get information and give it to Dad when he got home. _Strategy_ , Zuko thought. _That_ would make Dad proud. 

Plus, if he stayed here, eventually they’d _have_ to give him his own ride home anyway. Grandpa would _never_ let these savages hold him captive for long, he knew that for sure.

Zuko reached down to the floor and pulled his slippers back on. He was glad he went to sleep last night with his slippers on. If he hadn’t, he might not even have any _shoes_. These people had kidnapped him as he was sleeping. They hadn’t bothered to change him or bring anything from his room. 

(On the other hand, Zuko was a _spirit_ , now. Or, at least, something close to that. He wasn’t quite sure that these waterbenders would be able to do that to him. Their _princess_ , the one in line to _lead_ them, had no idea who he was when he turned up).

(Maybe they _hadn’t_ kidnapped him).

(Those thoughts needed to go away for now).

“I’m coming,” he said as he pulled the second slipper on and stood up, wobbling a bit as he did. He’d forgotten how much heavier the parka he was wearing was in comparison to any outfit he had ever worn in the Fire Nation. 

Yue nodded and opened the door. Zuko stumbled a bit and prayed to Agni she hadn’t seen before he followed her out the door. As she closed the door behind him, he demanded that she walk in front of him, so he could keep her in his sights at all times. Her face was blank for a moment before she nodded and said, “Of course.”

Zuko followed her through the palace, the ice halls seeming to glow with light. He kept his eyes firmly on her shoes. He didn’t want to be caught _admiring_ this place, even by accident.

“So… where are we going?”

He was sure he sounded awkward, but he needed information. Information was important. If you knew things about people, then you had more ammo to use against them. That was what Azula always said, and Azula knew these kinds of things.

Yue was silent for a moment, and Zuko scrunched his brow and was about to ask again when she said, “The Grand Hall of Ice and Snow. Though everyone just calls it the Grand Hall. It’s what you would call the throne room, I suppose, though it is also where feasts, performances, councils, and parties are held.”

Zuko made a face, which he realized she wouldn’t be able to see as he said, “It’s the throne room _and_ the ballroom?”

Yue nodded. “It is.”

“That’s weird.”

She, apparently, deigned not to respond, and they fell back into silence.

They passed by a window, at one point, and the shudders weren’t closed at the moment, so what seemed to be a small layer of snow had developed on the floor right below the opening. Yue simply stepped around it, but Zuko found himself stopping for a moment.

He stared down at the snow, and thought of the boat ride here, of how he had managed to get in and out of the boat without rocking it. He put his foot down in the snow and lifted it back up. A small footprint was left behind. 

Zuko frowned, and for a moment he thought _hard_ and focused on the idea of _not making a footprint_. 

He put his foot down again and lifted it back up, and the snow was still in place.

His frown deepened, even if he felt an air of success run through him.

 _His theory had been right_.

Mom would have been so proud.

“Are you coming?”

Zuko looked up and saw that Yue had gotten significantly farther ahead of him. She was standing at the end of the corridor, her hands folded in front of her in a manner that would have looked nice if Zuko hadn’t known any better. Thankfully, years of living with and watching Mom and Azula had helped him _tons_ in the world of Being Courtly And Containing Your True Feelings. He wasn’t very good at it himself, but Yue used the same tactics Mom did, and Mom told him _everything_ , so he was proud to say that he was able to tell that she was _not_ , actually, completely calm.

Honestly, though, the thought didn’t calm _him_ , either, despite the fact that he was being smart _again_ (look at him go!), because he was still in enemy territory, and the fact that the Princess of the Savages was not _calm_ when interacting with him was not at all good for him.

“Yeah,” he retorted, moving around the snow and running a bit to catch up with her, leaving the single footprint in the snow below the window behind him.

They descended down a staircase or two, walked down another three corridors, until finally they were in front of a pair of grand double doors. Zuko had managed to not be impressed so far (mostly by staring determinately at the ground) but the door almost got him, if only for the skill that it must have taken to make it. The doors were ornately carved, with the Water Tribe insignia proudly displayed in the center of each. They had to be at least eight feet tall, with the outer parts covered in swirling shapes like waves on a rough sea. The edges were lined in different carvings, sharper ones that jutted in and out along the door. They reminded him of icicles, like the ones in the stories that Mom used to read to him and Azula, or the ones he had seen hanging off of a roof or two while in the boat. In the center of the doors, right along the seam between them, was a round shape that reminded him of the moon. On his arm, the Mark of Agni tingled just a bit.

“Are you all right?”

He snapped out of his state of what was _Definitely Not Admiration_ to glance at Yue. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she stared at him.

He nodded stiffly, putting on a brave face that he was sure must look daring to her. “Of course I am.” The tingling faded.

“All right.” She turned to the doors, let out a small breath from her nose, and, with surprising ease, pushed them open

\- - - - -

The Grand Hall (of Ice and Snow, he remembered) was _grander_ than he expected. The doors certainly hadn’t disappointed. The walls were carved just as ornately as the doors had been, swirls in the ice and sharper shapes along the bottom and top of the walls. There were pillars around the room, big ones that were carved just as beautifully as the walls and the doors. That seemed to be a theme with this room. Ice came down from the ceiling in beautifully shaped swirls. There were pots filled with water, and pools along the sides, flowing waters that he was sure were for both decoration and bending. There wasn’t a throne, but rather multiple platforms, the largest of which had a man and a woman sitting cross-legged on the ground next to each other in the middle of it.

Both the man and woman had black hair and piercing blue eyes, like the ocean. The man had a strong aura of authority around him (not as much as Dad or Grandpa or Uncle Iroh, but a strong one, nonetheless), his lips set in a firm line. Two locks of hair were pulled forward, blue ties around them, and what seemed to be a small ponytail rested on the back of his head. The ponytail was unlike any Zuko had ever seen. It wasn’t _anything_ like the Phoenix Plume or the like. 

The woman beside the man had a less severe look in her eyes. She had less of the age lines that went across the face of the man next to her. Her hair tumbled down to her mid-back, with what seemed to be some sort of headdress or crown resting in the front, like where Mom would put the headbands she sometimes had Azula wear. The woman’s face was kind, and she reminded him slightly of _Mom_ . Agni, he had been here less than a _day_ and he was already missing home more than he had ever thought possible. Both the man and the woman stood as they approached.

Yue walked forward, Zuko following just a pace behind before falling in next to her when she stopped.

“Father,” she said, bowing her head to the man, before she turned to the woman and added, “Mother.” She turned back to her father, who Zuko supposed would be, what was it, the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe? Was that what they called their version of the Fire Lord? The Fire Nation had the Fire Lord, Zuko’s own grandfather, the Earth Kingdom had the Earth King, and the Water Tribes had their Chiefs, of which the Northern one must be the man in front of him.

That explained the age lines. Some of them must have been stress lines. Uncle Iroh had had quite a few of those, the last time Zuko saw him.

“You called for me?” Yue said, her eyes on the Chief.

The Chief was silent for a moment. His eyes were on his daughter. His wife’s were not, they were focused somewhere else. Then, the Chief’s eyes moved slowly and landed on the spot where his wife was looking. Zuko realized with a start that they were staring directly at _him_.

“Yue,” the Chief started, and he sounded irritated, but honestly more tired than anything. Mom sounded like that a lot when she spoke to Azula. “ _Why_ , in the name of Tui and La, is there a floating parka next to you?”

Yue’s eyes widened and she turned and met Zuko’s eyes, looking as if she was just seeing him for the first time.

“Uh…” It was the least graceful word (or even _sound_ ) to come out of Yue’s mouth in the _however many hours_ that Zuko had known her.

Zuko himself was feeling like he wanted to sink into the ground and die right there. He had come relying on the fact that _no one could see him but Yue_ , and then here was the Chief, wondering why a _floating parka_ was there. Why hadn’t the parka turned invisible? His pajamas were invisible, weren’t they? Afterall, that girl who had stuck her hand through his shoulder earlier (which he still wasn’t over, by the way) hadn’t said anything about _floating pajamas_.

Zuko’s heart was pounding as the eyes of the Chief and his wife moved from Yue to where Zuko was standing and back again.

“What… What do we do?” He certainly hadn’t _meant_ to sound so scared, but the situation seemed rather appropriate. 

She was silent for a moment, glancing back at her parents before looking back at him. “I don’t know. What would _you_ like to do?”

Zuko thought for a moment, chewing on his lower lip (and, yes, he knew that Dad had said to _stop that_ , but Dad wasn’t here right now and he _couldn’t help it_ ). “Well, he can’t… he can’t _see_ me…” Zuko found himself not liking at all the hesitance of his words. He was a _Prince of the Fire Nation_. He was supposed to be strong and sure of himself. He cleared his throat, squared his shoulders in what he hoped was an accurate replicate of Dad, and said, “Maybe he knows what’s going on.”

Yue seemed to study his face for a moment before he nodded. “Yes, that is a very real possibility. You would like me to explain _everything_ , though?”

Well, it was too late to go back now, he supposed. Plus, Zuko’s feet were still cold, and maybe the sooner they figured out everything that was happening, the sooner he could go home and everything could go back to _normal_. 

He _really_ wanted to see Mom again.

“Yes,” he replied before he could rethink his decision. He channeled as much confidence as he could. That was what Azula had told him he should do, afterall.

( _“You need to be more confident, Zuzu. No one will_ ever _take you seriously if you trip over every other word. You can’t just stammer your way through life,_ especially _not as a Prince of the Fire Nation.”_

_“Shut up, Azula.”_

_“Whatever you say, Dum Dum. I’m just trying to help you. Maybe you should be more_ grateful _.”_ ).

“All right.”

Yue turned back to her parents, her eyes moving from her father to her mother and then back, before she seemed to take on the same air of confidence that Azula herself always had and spoke.

“Today, while I was in the Spirit Oasis, there was a glow, and then when the glow faded, there was a boy.”

She moved her way deftly through the explanation, but Zuko noticed early on that she was carefully avoiding saying anything about the fact that he was the _grandson of the Fire Lord_ . She was _also_ avoiding the topic of the Mark of Agni that rested on his forearm.

As if on cue, the Mark tingled just a bit.

“Do you know this boy’s name?”

Yue’s careful mask broke _just a bit_ at her father’s question. Finally, she spoke slowly.

“He… He introduced himself as Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, son of Ursa and Prince Ozai.”

The whole thing made the Chief’s eyebrows shoot up and Zuko watched his eyes widen before narrowing at the end. “ _Prince_ Ozai?”

Yue nodded.

There was a silence for a moment, and Zuko shifted from foot to foot, his eyes moving between the three members of the ‘royal family’ in this savage icy land as the Chief lost himself in thought.

Finally, he asked, “Prince _Zuko,_ you say?”

Yue nodded. “Yes, Father.” She turned to Zuko, raising an eyebrow. “That _is_ your name, is it not?”

Zuko gave her his own firm nod in return, feeling a wave of irritation and pride well up in his chest. “Of _course_ it is. I wouldn’t _dare_ lie about something like that. We in the Fire Nation have _honor_.”

She hummed lightly in response and turned back to her father. “He has confirmed it.”

The Chief’s lips pursed a bit before he asked, “How old is the Fire Prince?”

“I’m eleven,” Zuko said. “Just turned it a few weeks ago.”

“Eleven, he says,” Yue relayed to her father.

The Chief turned to his wife next to him and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and responded in kind. The conversation they had was quick and all but silent to Zuko (and most likely Yue as well). Then, the two leaned away from one another.

The Chief’s eyes were on the ground for a moment, then his daughter, then Zuko (or, at the very least, the parka), and then he looked to the sky and muttered, “ _I’m getting too old for this._ ” He ran a hand down his face (which was _incredibly_ unprofessional, especially for someone held by his people in the same regard as the Fire Lord was held by the people of the Fire Nation. _This_ was one reason why these guys were uncivilized _savages_ , clearly). 

“Is there any other way you can prove that this ‘ _Prince Zuko_ ’ is here?”

Yue let out a small laugh, though it was forced. She sounded like Mom again for a moment there. “Other than the floating parka?”

“Yes. Preferably proof that this is a _firebending prince who is supposedly-_ ”

He cut himself off as his wife rested a hand on his shoulder. He glanced back at her, she gave him a meaningful look, and he was quiet.

Yue turned to him. “You _are_ a firebender, aren’t you?”

Zuko scoffed. “Of course I am. I’m the son of Prince Ozai. I’m the nephew of General Iroh. I’m the grandson of Fire Lord Azulon. I’m the _great-grandson of Fire Lord Sozin himself!_ Of _course_ I’m a firebender.”

“Then firebend.”

Zuko rolled his eyes and reached his hand out, ready to form a small flame in his palm. 

Nothing. 

That was odd. He’d never not been able to firebend before. Sure, Azula was always better than he was, but he’d always been able to at least make a _flame_.

Zuko took in a deep breath, the way he was always taught, and pushed a bit harder. A spark appeared. It was so _hard_ . _Why was it so hard?_ It was as if all the firebending training he had ever gotten was _gone_. It was as if he had never bent fire before, and he was just learning now.

Zuko breathed again, frustrated now.

“What’s wrong?”

Yue was watching, her eyebrows knit together in what _looked_ like concern. No, she _had_ to be faking it (Azula always was, afterall). 

“It’s… hard.” He hated admitting it.

“Can you _do_ it?”

“Of course,” he snapped at her, glaring as hard as he could in her direction. Her lips pressed together and she fell silent.

Zuko bit down on his lip, hard, took in a final deep breath, and pushed all his energy into making a little flame in the palm of his hand.

A tiny fire appeared, a weak, flickering one. He held it in his hand for about five seconds, doing his best to make it grow and shrink over and over, just to prove that he _could_ , before he let it go out.

There was a pause, and then, for the first time, the wife of the Chief spoke. “Well, that definitely proves _something_.”

She turned to Zuko (most likely focusing on the parka he was wearing), and gave a small bow.

“Greetings, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. As Chieftess and wife of Chief Arnook, I, Uki, would like to officially welcome you to the Northern Water Tribe.”

\- - - - -

These people were weird, there was no doubt about that. 

Chieftess ‘Uki,’ (the Chief’s wife, apparently), had all but _kidnapped_ Yue (can you kidnap your own child? Zuko wasn’t sure. He’d have to ask Mom), forcing Zuko to follow the one person who could _see_ him, and dragged her off to the Spirit Oasis.

It had been a cold ride there, with Uki _insisting_ that Zuko take off the parka (which, no , Yue had Definitely Not Had to Help Him With It). She’d said that it would “ _draw unwanted attention_.” 

If she had been able to hear Zuko, he would have retorted, “ _You’re already doing that bringing along a_ princess _with_ white hair.” But she couldn’t hear him, so he said nothing.

It was when they reached the Spirit Oasis that things went a bit weird.

“Oh, my Tui and La.”

Zuko had galloped into the Oasis, desperate for the warm air. If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend he was _home_.

He turned, and saw Uki looking directly at him. His eyes met hers.

“Mother?” Yue asked, coming up next to the woman. “Can you… see him?”

“Vaguely.”

It didn’t _feel_ like ‘ _vaguely_ ’ while her eyes were _locked_ on him. Yue seemed to realize the same thing, and she said as much.

“He _looks_ like a spirit. Colors are faded out. His body’s translucent. He’s not _blue_ though, like how they say spirits are. He’s more… golden orange.”

Yue’s eyes flew down to where the Mark of Agni was hidden under his sleeve. 

She was on him in a second, yanking back the fabric and showing it to her mother.

Uki stared at it for a moment before breathing, “The Mark of Agni.”

Yue nodded. “The Spirit Pool glowed when he touched it, too.”

Uki’s lips pursed. “I’ll have to speak to your father. And consult the scrolls.” There was a knock on the door into the Spirit Oasis and Uki turned toward it. “But first…”

Zuko watched her go and open the door just a tiny bit, speaking to whoever was there.

“Do _you_ know what she’s talking about?”

Yue shook her head. “Not completely. I might have a tiny idea, but that’s just from experience, and my parents haven’t told me much, yet.”

“How would you know _anything_ about this from _experience?_ ”

She was silent before pulling up her sleeve just a bit, revealing the little moon shape that she had called ‘the Mark of Tui.’

“Oh,” Zuko said grudgingly, and he stayed silent before he could say anything stupid. That was what Azula always told him (which Dad had started reinforcing once he had heard it for the first time). _Either say something intelligent, or say nothing at all_.

Okay, so _maybe_ he wasn’t listening to _all_ their advice and rules, but they weren’t here and he was doing _fine_.

(...He missed Mom).

Uki came back over carrying what seemed to be a basket, tucked under her arm. “He sounds far away when he speaks,” she said. She set the basket down and pulled out a bundle of fabric.

“I hope you like blue, Prince Zuko. I can have some extra red dye imported soon, but for now, this will have to do…”

Zuko realized, with a start, that the fabric was clothing.

“Mother, what are you doing with that?”

Uki was unfolding the first bit of fabric, which seemed to be a tunic. She moved toward the Spirit Pool, and dunked the fabric in.

“Mother!” Yue exclaimed, rushing forward. “The water… you’ve always said not to… to contaminate it!”

“Prince Zuko, please come here.”

Zuko carefully stepped toward the woman kneeling by the Spirit Pool. 

“Place your hand in.”

He did, closing his eyes so as to not get blinded by the glow that he knew was coming, but instead there was just a steady glow around the fabric, as if the light was flowing into it. A moment later, Uki said, “You can take it out, now.”

He pulled his hand out, but Uki said, “Grab the tunic, too.”

He did.

“Mother, what did that do?”

“It endowed the tunic with Spirit Energy. Specifically that of Agni, channeled through Prince Zuko himself. It should make it so that Prince Zuko can wear these clothes without them… floating.”

(A few minutes later, they tried it out outside the Spirit Oasis. It worked. Zuko wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that he had put his hand into a pool of water and turned some clothes invisible. Thankfully, he wasn’t freaking out. He _wasn’t!_ ).

“How do you… know about this?” Yue asked her mother.

“I didn’t. But… well, I hoped it would work sort of like how it did when you were a baby…” She fell silent, and Yue looked a bit uncomfortable. Well, her _face_ didn’t, but she was definitely looking _away_ from him.

Zuko felt his stomach growl. He scowled but said, “I’m hungry.”

Uki looked up at the sky, not that you could see much of it in the Oasis, but she said, “Yes, it is getting late, anyway.” She looked at Zuko. “Would you like to join us for dinner, Prince Zuko?”

Zuko didn’t trust himself to speak, and so he simply nodded curtly instead.

“Wonderful. I’m sure Yue will ensure you’re with us.”

They left the Spirit Oasis, and then Uki couldn’t see him anymore. 

Despite the fact that he was wearing one of the coats they had put in the water, now, he still felt cold.

\- - - - -

“ _How did she know how to do that?_ ”

“I told her.”

Agni jumped a bit, the fires in his eyes flaring for a moment, and in the world below some mortals fanned their faces from the sudden heatwave.

“Do you _have_ to do that?”

Tui shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. “I don’t _have_ to.” The black holes that were where her eyes were supposed to be looked warmer than usual, if that was possible.

Agni sighed. “You know, if you’re gonna keep showing up, La’s gonna start thinking something’s happening between us.”

She shook her head. “He won’t.”

Agni raised an eyebrow but said nothing else of the matter.

“So… you _spoke_ to the Chieftess?”

“I whispered in her ear. Simply planted the idea in her mind. She does not know that it was my doing.”

Agni nodded. At least that made it a bit better. _Direct_ meddling never ended well when the other party knew who was _doing_ the meddling.

“You seem… happier than usual.”

She didn’t deign to respond, instead turning those dark eyes on him and then back at the flames he watched his champion and her champion through. The fire didn’t reflect in her eyes. Then, the blue ring around them glowed brightly for a moment, and she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should comment.
> 
> Additionally, I'm just gonna say...
> 
> This is in Zuko's POV. Arnook is not going to discuss LOCKING HIM UP while Zuko is standing RIGHT THERE.
> 
> (And Yue seems pretty attached to this boy and he seems to be pretty weak at firebending right now and wait isn't he supposed to be dead I mean even WE got the news about that what is going on-)


	5. Zuko Gets /This/ Close to Actually Learning Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko finds that it is quite hard to fall asleep when you've never slept away from home before.
> 
> It's also hard to fall asleep when nightmares keep waking you up.
> 
> Who would've guessed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](evienyx.tumblr.com)
> 
> Ooh, boy, this one took a while, lmao. 
> 
> Happy New Year... Yay...
> 
> I mean, I'm only a month late, you know?
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this one! I know how I want the next ones to go, this one just didn't wanna come out of my brain and onto the google doc. Still, we got it. Eventually.
> 
> (also, I'm planning to start streaming on Twitch in the next few weeks, so go follow if you wanna find out when that's happening. I'm gonna be answering questions from comments, Tumblr, and anything dropped in the chat, and it would be lovely of you to drop by!)
> 
> ( [Twitch](twitch.tv/evienyx) )
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!!!

Staring up at the ceiling, Zuko wondered if he had ever seen such a deep, vibrant color of blue. He thought about vacations on Ember Island. The deep blue color of the waters they had to travel through had  _ nothing _ against the way the icy ceiling above him glowed. 

Zuko didn’t see ice very much, only in sculptures during parties, and in drinks on hot days. Whatever ice he saw at home was always clear, translucent, with a small sheen of light blue at best.

The ice here, that formed the Northern Water Tribe, was different. He couldn’t see through the walls. The room was dark, and yet he could see everything, despite there being no moon out his window. The icy walls seemed to glow a deep blue color unlike anything he had ever seen before, even in the ocean or in paintings. There was a chill to everything, but it was colder  _ outside _ the ice than  _ inside _ , which Zuko did  _ not _ understand in the slightest.

The savage princess, Yue, had convinced her father to give Zuko somewhere to sleep, and  _ then _ had somehow convinced him to turn the small room next to Yue’s own into a guest room (Honestly, the way she was able to get people to do what she wanted reminded him of Azula. Yue was miles behind Azula’s skill, but it was there, and it was a force of nature).

Zuko shifted under the pile of furs he’d been given. Downsides of bringing up the fact that he needed to sleep somewhere during a late-night dinner? There was not much time to set things up, resulting in Zuko ( _ Prince of the Fire Nation _ ) sleeping on what wasn’t much more than a pile of furs on the ground. Still, it was warm, and one of the first firebender lessons anyone learned was that you take all the warmth you can get.

(“ _ The cold will make you weak, and firebenders of our great nation cannot be weak. You avoid the cold, you avoid the ice, and you stay strong. Understand? _ ”

“ _ Yes, Master. _ ”

“ _ Good. Now, drill it again! _ ”)

Either way, he was in the Northern Water Tribe, which his tutors always said was one of the most uncivilized places in the world. He didn’t know what else he could have expected.

(Then, though, he remembered Yue’s room, decked out with furniture the way his own was, and he remembered the carvings across the doors to the Grand Hall of Ice and Snow, the ornate designs that swirled over the ice, and he remembered the boat ride across the canals, the way that all the buildings were carved from the same ice that the glacier rising around them seemed to be formed from, and he felt himself falter in his thoughts of savagery as he wondered how a  _ savage civilization _ could make so many beautiful things.)

Zuko frowned and shimmied a bit underneath the furs. His fingers grasped at a few hairs hanging loose from the fur on top of him and he held them tight as he closed his eyes.

.

.

.

_ The creak was what awoke him. Zuko was warm as consciousness slowly ebbed back into him. His limbs felt heavy. He batted at the blanket draped over his body before propping himself on his elbows and pushing himself up.  _

_ A small groan escaped his lips as he rubbed at his eyes. _

_ The room was dark. The door creaked. He furrowed his eyebrows. He was sure that it should be closed, but it was cracked ever-so-slightly.  _

_ Odd. _

_ Zuko’s eyes were slow to adjust to the dark. It was the middle of the night, he was sure. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see shadows dancing down the rooftops from the moon that must be straight overhead, above the palace, where he could not see from his window. _

_ A light breeze blew in through the window. That was  _ also _ odd. He was quite sure that the servants had closed those. It was meant to get chilly that night.  _

_ Zuko shivered as the soft wind hit his cheeks and balled his fists into the blanket.  _

_ He wondered if Mom was awake right now. She probably was. If she wasn’t, she still said he could come to see her whenever he wanted. If he got scared at night, she said. _

_ Zuko didn’t  _ get _ scared. He was the Prince of the Fire Nation. Of  _ course _ he didn’t get scared. Still, though, he thought he should go and see Mom. To make sure that  _ she’s _ all right, of course. _

_ Yes, that’s what he would do. _

_ Zuko was just pushing off the blanket when he froze as he spotted a flash of movement in the corner of his vision. In the shadows of the room, something had moved. He wasn’t sure what, but he was  _ sure _ it had. _

_ “...Hello?” He asked, his voice as steady as he could make it. “Is anyone there?” _

_ There was no answer. The shadows stayed still. The inner silk curtains hanging by the windows fluttered in the light breeze that filtered through the room. The silence was deafening.  _

_ Zuko kept his eye trained on the spot where he’d seen the darkness shift, where something had been  _ alive _ , if only for a moment. _

Had _ there been anything there? _

_ Now, he wasn’t so sure. _

_ He watched for another moment, for another two, and then allowed his shoulders to slump, tension still there but relatively draining away. _

_ Zuko kicked off the blanket and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood up and immediately there was a knife at his throat. _

_ He went still. _

_ The person was behind him, gripping him with one arm, the knife pressing into his neck, ready to slide at any minute, held in the other. _

_ Zuko’s throat bobbed. He felt the blade cut in just a bit. A single bead of blood, hot and stinging, rolled down his skin, it’s heat an abrupt switch from the cold of the knife and the chill that had run down his spine the moment it touched his skin. A small whimper fell from his lips. _

_ “Hush, now,” the figure holding him said softly. He felt like he knew that voice, but he couldn’t place it. Fear set into his bones. “Stay nice and quiet now, will you?” Zuko resisted swallowing and nodded as best he could, trying to stop the blade from cutting through any farther. “Good boy.” _

_ The knife moved away enough that Zuko could relax and speak without dying.  _

_ “Who are you?” _

_ “Asking questions I won’t answer, I see.” _

_ Zuko took in a breath. “What do you want from me? Are you going to kidnap me?” _

_ The person, a man, Zuko guessed, laughed, and the sound was cold and heartless. “Kidnap you? No, no, I’m not.” Zuko tried to keep from shaking. His fingers grasped uselessly at the arm holding the knife to his throat.  _

_ “What’re you gonna do then?” He asked in between shallow breaths. _

_ The figure laughed again. “What am I going to do, Prince Zuko?” There was a beat, and then, sounding quite happy about what he was saying, the man said, “I’m going to kill you.” _

_ Zuko froze and then opened his mouth to scream.  _

_ “Oh, can’t have that, now can we?” _

_ There was a sharp pain in his neck, and all of sudden Zuko couldn’t scream, couldn’t make  _ any _ sound, and a split-second later he was choking on blood bubbling up in his mouth. _

_ The man turned him around and pushed him back onto the bed. Tears burned at his cheeks as he fell onto the mattress.  _

_ As the first sharp pain in his stomach came, Zuko vaguely thought through the haze about how the sheets had just been washed. Now, there was blood on them. _

_ He wondered how upset Mom would be about that. _

_ Fingers touched his jaw and he was jerked back to the situation at hand. His head pounded as all the pain seemed to register at once. His body hurt. _

_ Zuko’s gaze moved up and focused on the hooded figure, face shielded from view. Zuko’s legs kicked uselessly. _

_ The man reached up, pulled down his hood… _

_ Zuko’s vision tunnelled. He opened his mouth to scream, a sound that would never be made, and then he was falling. _

_ Falling… _

_ Falling… _

_ Falling… _

_ The darkness was warm, and the light above, so very far away. _

_ He wondered if the moonlight outside had always been so bright. _

_ He felt something pull at his chest, and the pain shot through his body again, and once more he was falling… _

_ Falling… _

_ Falling… _

_ He hit the ground with a scream _ .

.

.

.

He hit the ground with a scream. Or, at least, he would’ve, had he not already been on the ground. As it was, he was on the ground. Screaming.

Zuko grasped at his throat, coughing, the feeling of blood pooling in his mouth still very much present. He took in quick gasps, desperately attempting to force air into his lungs.

Agni, he couldn’t  _ breathe _ .

His throat hurt, and his ears were ringing. As the ringing receded, he could hear screaming.

Oh.

He was the one screaming.

Zuko blinked rapidly.

_ Blink. _

_ Blink. _

_ Blink. _

He was warm, just like he’d been under that blanket. He was wearing the same pajamas. Agni, where was he? Where was the man? Where was the knife?  _ Where was the air? Why couldn’t he breathe, why couldn’t he speak, why couldn’t he scream, why was he screaming, why couldn’t he breathe? _

His scream was abruptly caught in his throat as a sob burst forth and took its place instead. Tears streamed down his face, leaving streaks down his face. Zuko kicked at whatever was warm and on top of him, and sat up, his hands grasping at the hairs on the furs by his feet now.

Zuko blinked, and reality swam in-and-out of focus. The world around him was blue, and much brighter than his room.

Where was he?

Zuko held his hand up in front of his face, and it was shaking as he tried to let his eyes focus in on it.

A cloud outside must have moved at that moment, because a beam of moonlight filtered through into the room and fell across Zuko’s hand. His skin shimmered and with a jolt he realized that he could just barely see through to the furs below it.

Oh.

That’s right.

The Northern Water Tribe.

Half a world away from home.

_ Half a world away from Mom _ .

Agni, Zuko missed Mom.

His face burned as new tears sprung forth. How long would it be until he saw her again? Did she think he was dead? What did she think happened to him? He wanted to send her a letter, to tell her that he was here, that she didn’t need to worry anymore, because he had charmed his kidnappers and now she could tell Grandpa Azulon where he was so that he could get home safe.

But how long would that take?

How long would he be stuck here, in a room all by himself, where when he woke up he couldn’t go see Mom? 

(He couldn't’ go see  _ anyone _ . Not if, for whatever reason, they couldn’t see  _ him _ , either.)

Another new sob sputtered forth, and Zuko bit his lip hard enough to almost draw blood as he tried to hold further ones in.

The fabric that fluttered in place of a door shifted and Zuko flinched away and shifted as far as he could as quickly as he could.

The figure loomed above him, dark and menacing, a knife held aloft, ready to fall down and strike-

Princess Yue rubbed her eye and blinked down at him. The man was gone. The knife was never even there. Her hand was empty.

Yue stared at him for a moment, her gaze flicking over his body, the shaking, the wide eyes, the rapid breaths, the tension, and knelt down to his level. Zuko leaned away ever-so-slightly.

“Bad dream?”

He was still for a moment before swallowing and nodding.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Zuko shook his head. Tears were still streaking down his face.

His shoulders were tense. He was ready for her to do what Mom always did, to insist that he speak. 

(“ _ Talking about it is the only way you’re going to feel better, dear. Come now, I’m sure whatever it was is much less scary than you think it was.” _ )

“All right,” she said calmly, seemingly unaware of the shock she just sent to his system. 

There was a beat of silence before she sighed.

“My couch is empty,” she said. “Would you like to spend the night there, instead?”

Zuko swallowed, his mind blanking before he said the first thing his thoughts landed on. “Isn’t that… inappropriate?”

Yue shrugged. “I suppose, but who would know?”

He thought back to the way his hand shimmered in the light and found that he couldn’t argue with that. Shakily, Zuko stood up, gathering a bundle of furs in his arm and following Yue down the hall to her room. He noted, vaguely, that she actually had a door, rather than the curtain that had covered the entrance to the room he had been in.

Yue took the furs from him and, without a word, flattened one over the couch and then laid another one so that he could easily slip underneath it. Zuko shuffled over and sat down, wiping at his eyes and wishing that his heart would stop pounding so loudly in his ears. He slid under the fur and Yue quietly pulled it up to his neck. She nodded at him, which he returned, and then slipped out of view, moving across the room to her own bed.

“...Thank you,” he said after a moment of silence.

“It’s my pleasure, Prince Zuko.” There was a beat, and then, “Sleep well.”

“Yeah, you too.”

He heard the furs and blankets on the bed shift as Yue laid back down to sleep.

Zuko’s eyes felt heavy, but his brain still buzzed. Without thinking, his hand moved over to rub his thumb over the Mark of Agni that rested on his arm. He still wasn’t quite sure why he had it. According to what he knew, and what Yue had said, it meant that Agni  _ himself _ had marked him, had chosen him for something. Zuko was singled out as special, something that nobody in his family was.

What made him so different?

He wasn’t sure.

Zuko’s eyelids drooped a bit. The ringing in his ears was gone. His heartbeat was back to normal, it felt.

He could breathe again.

Zuko turned over. He faced the window, now. The moonlight sparkled across the city and the ocean, far in the distance. Beams flooded into Yue’s room, as well. The ice walls shimmered, some of the blue glowing in the light.

As Zuko’s eyes finally fluttered closed, he couldn’t help but feel as though the rays of light streaming through the window were unusually bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... hey... hey...
> 
> You should comment.
> 
> That would be pretty pog of you, ngl

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, it'd be great if you'd comment and lmk what you thought. I've been thinking on this for a while, and I'm just gonna keep going with it, but commenting would make my day.


End file.
